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Do you think that his parents beliefs led him to shy away from speaking of his dreams and his promise to Jesus, thus leaving him in stasis over his goals?Leading to moral depression over guilt of not immediately telling of John's criminal activities. Interesting thing here he could no longer trust himself because he had allowed someone to lie to him. Do you think that allowing someone to lie to you hinders your own spiritual journey?

I think his parents' beliefs made him dig deeper. His dad's reply made him curious. Normally, at his age, he wouldn't have gotten curious. Even his dad told him it was an adult matter.
John lied to all of them. Richard was pure in heart, so he chose to see good in John. That wasn't his fault.
Anyone can lie to you. It all depends on how you respond. You can accept the lies blindly or find out the truth yourself.

Excellent point! I actually do you think that telling lies may hinder one's spiritual journey. In her wonderful book called Women Who Run with the Wolves", pychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estes explores how secrets and lies may shut you off from the unconscious.

I know that when you lose confidence in yourself especially from believing someone's lies or not having someone you feel comfortable confiding in, no strong role models, then all parts of your life suffer.

I think we do get influenced by the behavior of the people around us. In the end however, it is up to us to decide how we let others affect our search for truth.

I believe that the response from his father made him dig deeper concerning the beliefs he had begun developing. Initially, he had just believed in God after attending a Bible Study out of fear of going to hell for those who did not. However, it is true that people can be a hindrance in any dimension of growth, whether spiritual or any other.

I think his father’s response forced him to think more deeply about matters, and so in this instance, it was helpful to him. However, I think with these sorts of things people need to be careful of those who influence them. When someone lies in regards to spirituality it can have so many repercussions and it often changes the way a person interacts with the subject being lied about.

I do think lying can hinder your spiritual development, especially lying to yourself. You really can't control if someone lies to you, but you can try to surround yourself with people that are usually honest and truthful and, most importantly, you can commit to find your truth and acknowledge it. The people we surround ourselves with, definitely have an influence on us and our worldview but it's not totally out of our control, otherwise, people coming from toxic environments would be utterly doomed.
However, I think the author's parents had a very open-minded approach. When the author was a kid and he approached them about religion they encouraged his questions and talking about it " like adults", as well as comparing Bible versions. I think that was good parenting, encouraging critical thinking and curiosity in kids is important, in my opinion.

I don't think that lying specifically can undermine one's spiritual beliefs, those I think depend on how you were raised and where life takes you, but it certainly can make one question how people perceive them, make them question their worth.

I believe that lying to yourself will hinder the intellectual process of spiritual enlightenment. It is essential to accept things as they are. You can manage what you do and who you decide you genuinely want to surround yourself with. I also believe that a person needs to be wise and willingly choose to do something because they truly want to do it. People may intentionally or unintentionally form their opinion and wish that others see and accept them as they see it. But a person has to form their opinion.

I believe that everyone around us can and will affect us one way or another. His parents played a vital role in his journey, and I could say that it indeed affected his stasis over his goals. About John, it was truly a devastating discovery, and I agree that it can hinder one's spiritual journey. It makes you think you're weak and unworthy, especially when a friend did it to you. Glad that the author had overcome that though.

I don't believe you can allow someone to lie to you, but you can choose to accept something you know isn't true to prevent fighting and preserve the peace. You can't control what other people do, just how you react. Lying yourself can hurt your spiritual journey when it's big lies, especially lying to yourself,

People go on many journeys in life but some never open themselves up spiritually. That ride is fun to take but when you surround yourself in a situation, as in John and Richard's, where his friendship and kindness allowed John to get away with a small thing when in actually he was doing something much worse would indeed make me question trust in myself.

I think that the people around you and the ideas that they contribute are all part of the learning and growing that you go through. If there weren't people around you, there would be little learning and growing that would happen as there wouldn't be conflict. Conflict helps you think, hopefully for yourself. So these ideas are a key part of growth and necessary.